WASHINGTON – Haitian President René Préval arrives in Washington on Monday for meetings with Congress and President Barack Obama as the White House prepares to ask lawmakers for more than $1 billion in aid for the earthquake-ravaged country.

Préval, though, is likely to also press for more immediate concerns. He told the Miami Herald on Friday that though billions have been pledged, little has gone to the Haitian government.

“There is an urgency. The urgency is that we have entered into a rainy season,” he said, noting that the country needs at least $93 million immediately to fix drainage pipes to prevent flooding.

He also wants to purchase seeds and fertilizer to encourage those who fled the wrecked capital of Port-au-Prince to stay in the provinces and farm. The country is also seeking money to get students back in school.

Préval arrives in Washington after meeting with a series of visiting U.S. lawmakers, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and several Latin American leaders.

The trip comes just three weeks before the U.S. and other donor nations meet in New York to map out a way to assist in a reconstruction effort that has been estimated to cost $14 billion.

“What’s most important is the philosophy of the reconstruction,” Préval said he will tell U.S. officials. “It’s not just reconstruct Port-au-Prince. It’s rebuild Haiti.”

His visit comes as administration officials are pulling together an emergency spending package on Haiti reconstruction to present to Congress.

Aid organizations have pressed the administration to ask for $3 billion for relief and reconstruction efforts in what could be the first step in a decade-long reconstruction effort. Congressional staffers said they expect to see a request for between $1.5 billion to $3 billion.